


It’s a Wonderful Life

by GiraffesCantDance



Category: The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV)
Genre: Actor!Jamie, Alternate Universe, F/F, Librarian!Dani, canon adjacent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:33:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28332429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GiraffesCantDance/pseuds/GiraffesCantDance
Summary: Jamie is a Hollywood film star looking to take some time off and stay off the radar of the press who’s been hounding her since her recent and video-taped explosion on the set of her current film project. Her attempts to remain incognito in small town America are foiled by a librarian in Seneca Falls, one Dani Clayton. Together maybe they can find the true meaning of Christmas, or something like that.
Relationships: Dani Clayton/Jamie, Hannah Grose/Owen Sharma
Comments: 2
Kudos: 35





	It’s a Wonderful Life

**Author's Note:**

> I did one of those social media games where it asks for the first letter of the last thing you ate, etc and that is the plot to your pandemic Hallmark Christmas movie. Well, I thought this one would make a good fic plot for Jamie and Dani, a movie star trying to remain incognito meets a small town librarian and together they find the real meaning of Christmas. Since Christmas is now over, I’m not sure how interested folks will be in this, but the plot will extend past Christmas. I also listed this as canon-adjacent because not everything is precisely canon, but I’m trying to keep the spirit of the characters and their interactions, their relationships, etc. I don’t think there will be ghosts. I don’t have a beta reader, so I’m my own editor (I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors).

“Well, I think it looks nice,” Dani huffed under her breath as she draped the green patterned cloth along the display table. This was her second attempt at the library’s seasonal book display. The first attempt had teetered and fallen all over the place after Flora and her brother Miles had accidentally run into the display as they raced into the library filled with the boisterous energy children have at Christmas time. 

They had both looked stricken at what they’d done in their haste and mumbled, “Sorry, Miss Clayton.” Dani gave them a mock frown that she couldn’t hold for long before a smile stretched across her face.

“It’s alright. Just try to be more careful, OK? Wouldn’t want anyone getting hurt.”

Flora solemnly nodded her agreement, “No, we wouldn’t.”

Dani did her best to tamp down a laugh at the serious tone and guise of the young library patron as the two continued on their way towards the children’s section. They had arrived in the USA by way of England a few months ago with their uncle Henry Wingrave, a barrister, which was a type of lawyer Dani discovered in some quick research. She wasn’t quite sure if all British children were so sincere in everything they said, but Miles and Flora were always a delight to have around, even (especially) on those rare occasions when they behaved a little more like their age. She tried not to discourage their fun when it popped up now and again.

Dani continued to chuckle at the antics of the children. An older woman leaned down to help pick up the books from the floor. The woman said, “Well, at least now you can do it right. This holiday fabric was all askew before, and I didn’t want to say anything since the books were already arranged, but now you can make it look right.” The patron handed the last book to Dani who wasn’t quite sure how to respond, and said nothing as the patron turned away.

She shook her head and huffed to herself as she began to drape the fabric again.

———

Jamie pulled the ball cap lower on her brow as she walked quickly along the sidewalk her breath coming out in plumes against the cool December air. She was a woman in her late twenties with what a Victorian novel or the film adaptation character breakdown would call alabaster skin, she had her curly light brown hair tucked up under the cap, an oversized men’s work jacket with the sleeves rolled up a few times covered a white Oxford button down and an open vest, blue jeans, and Doc Martens to finish off the look. As she hurried along, she saw a door in a quaint building off to her right. She quickly yanked the door open turning to see that she wasn’t being followed as she stepped inside. The sigh of relief she released was cut short as she ran into a woman who became a swirl of blonde hair and bright purple turtleneck sweater. 

“Oof!” The woman exclaimed in surprise.

Jamie grabbed the woman’s elbows, but whether it was to steady herself or the other woman she couldn’t say.

“I’m so—“ they both began in unison once they had finally found their balance, and then laughed.

“I am sorry.” Jamie finally got out in her rich almost melodical British accent. She noted the slight eyebrow raise once she spoke, and worried she’d been found out. She took in the other woman, who had her blonde hair pulled away from her face in a half up and half down style. She wore a bright purple turtleneck sweater, and dark green corduroy slacks, and chunky low-heeled ankle boots.

“I am, too.” The blonde said smiling, pulling Jamie’s attention back to the present. “I’m Dani by the way, Dani Clayton,” she said, holding out her hand in a very forthright, very American way that made Jamie chuckle.

“Jamie,” she said, giving the hand a quick shake and purposefully leaving off her surname. Then grinning she continued, “So, Dani, Dani Clayton, what’s all this then?” 

“Well, this,” Dani responded, gesturing with her arms raised above her head, “Is the Seneca Falls Public Library, and this,” she gestured behind her. “This is the holiday book display.”

Jamie walked over to the display to get a better look. “Quite lovely. Although, you could use a bit of life like some evergreen swag or a poinsettia.”

“I had thought of picking up some evergreen branches at the farmer’s market, but I wasn’t sure it would go. You think it would?”

“Oh, I always think we could use more plants about, don’t you?” Jamie then took in the display description a splashy title and brief paragraph encouraging folks to take a book from the display, “Are you having a laugh at me?”

Dani looked perplexed. “What?”

Jamie read the sign on the display and pointed with her index finger, “‘Find your own love this Christmas in Bedford Falls and see how wonderful life can be.’ Bedford Falls… really?” She squinted her eyes slightly in suspicion like this woman somehow knew a foreigner would come into the library and they wanted to play a very American joke on her if that happened.

Dani fully grinned this time, showing off her teeth. “Yes, really! Bedford Falls,” she gestured around her again, “You’re in it.” Jamie continued to look like someone had a secret video camera recording somewhere. “No, really!” Dani continued earnestly. “When Frank Capra was writing the screenplay for ‘Its a Wonderful Life’ he paid a visit to Seneca Falls and well, the rest is history as they say. The bridges are pretty much exact, and if you go down by the canal or take a walk through town, you can see what inspired him.” Dani gave a pause and Jamie could see her debate with herself, but eventually Dani made a decision and finished her impromptu local history lesson by raising a single eyebrow, “I would think someone in ‘The Biz’ would be more up to date on Hollywood lore.” Her blue eyes held glints of mirth as she let Jamie know she knew exactly who Jamie was, and the look and the teasing did something funny to Jamie’s insides.

“Ah, you’ve caught me out then have, ya?” Jamie said laughing. “Guilty. That’s actually why I was in such a rush coming in here. I was trying to lose a group of fans and reporters.”

Dani tilted her head at this admission, and then spoke slowly enunciating each word, failing to suppress a smile. “So you came into a public library to escape your public?”

At this, Jamie busted out laughing and as her head tilted back in glee her hat fell off. She grabbed it and with her other hand shook out her curls. “Well, when you put it that way, it doesn’t sound very bright now does it?”

The grin that Jamie flashed at Dani was the same one Dani had seen on theater screens at The Little in Rochester where they showed independent films. Jamie up there large as life spouting some snarky line written long ago by Austen or Wilde sending Dani’s heart into overdrive. That Jamie and that smile on the movie screen didn’t even come close to the endearing smile and the softening eyes before her now, this Jamie who was slightly disheveled from her “disguise” and quick jog walk to escape being mobbed, this Jamie was gorgeous. This Jamie was real and really here standing in her library.

Dani couldn’t help but meet Jamie’s smile with one of her own. She thought about the journey that led her to the movies that fateful day when she saw Jamie up on the screen for the first time and suddenly something clicked. She’d always felt something wasn’t quite right with her relationship with Eddie, but of course she had to have her revelation in a crowded theater. A month later she turned down Eddie’s marriage proposal and a week after that she moved out.

She’d been on the verge of graduating with her master’s degree from Iowa, and then she’d accepted her first real librarian position in a tiny town in New York along the canal route. She loved it. She’d already done some traveling after graduating undergrad and she was happy enough to find a place close to nature and close to a few cities she could go to, or even New York City for the weekend if she felt like it. The people in Seneca Falls were really sweet and of the live and let live variety, at least for the most part. How funny though that the impetus for her finally coming to terms with her sexuality was standing here in front of her laughing at her teasing comments.

Dani is still lost in thought about the oddity of life, when she hears Jamie saying, “So you’re not like the librarian from Ghostbusters are ya?”

Dani looked perplexed for a moment, and then she realized. “As in a ghost? No.” Dani laughs.

“You never know,” Jamie shrugs. Grinning, she says, “It could happen.”

“I’ll do my best not to jump off any bridges, at least for a while yet.”

“So, if you’re not confined to these walls for all eternity, would you fancy getting a cup of tea or hot chocolate? You could show me about, let me see all the historic moviemaking inspiration in this town. After your shift is done, of course.”

Before Dani has an opportunity to respond, she spies through the library’s glass door a small group of people, some with cameras in hand, heading straight towards them. She grabs Jamie by the shoulders and propels her towards the circulation desk, around, and then behind. 

“Down.” Dani demands urgently lightly pushing on Jamie’s shoulders.

“Marian, you flirt. At least, let’s do drinks first,” Jamie says with a cocky grin on her face.

Dani doesn’t even have the time to roll her eyes at the innuendo or “The Music Man” reference. She tersely says a single word, “Reporters.” Jamie’s eyes go wide and she quickly ducks down behind the desk.

The bell above the library door dings as the small group enters, a hodgepodge of overdressed and underdressed men and women, the ones with tans and a few too many layers for the current weather Dani figures to have come from California. They started to sweat but didn’t remove their coats and hats, and Dani tried not to laugh at how uncomfortable they looked. After all, she had found out the hard way herself how much snowier Western NY was to Iowa, that was the year the meteorological phenomenon “lake effect” entered her vocabulary. 

Thinking they were due for a storm soon, she wondered just when the atmosphere would absorb moisture from one of the nearby Great Lakes and decide to dump it over several hours across the region. Thinking of how the Californian reporters would handle three feet of snow arriving in a single day she had to hold back another laugh.

One young man approached the desk. He had dark blonde hair, blue eyes, and a quick grin that said he almost always got his way. He was dressed rather sharply in a dark suit and a camel colored wool overcoat. He looked at Dani without speaking a touch longer than was comfortable.

When he spoke, it was with a Scottish accent. “Have ya seen Jamie Gardner come through here within the past half hour?” 

Dani blinked slowly and tilted her head, slightly furrowing her brow, “Who?”

“Gardner. Jamie Gardner. The actress,” the smarmy reporter said slowly as if Dani hadn’t heard him before.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know if I would recognize her. I’m so bad with actor’s faces and names,” Jamie said, holding her hands up in a shrug. “But, I have known everyone who has come through those doors.”

The young man looked her up and down, almost as if he were measuring her for sale, “Well, my name is Peter Quint. Here’s my card. The number listed on there is my pager, give it a ring if you see her. If you do happen to recognize a curly dark-haired woman, but you can’t remember where from, it’s probably her.”

Peter Quint took a quick step back from the circulation desk because the young blonde woman in the sexy purple sweater had doubled over in a coughing fit while he was speaking. He shrugged it off and turned away to head out of the library. Seeing that he’d had no luck, the other reporters decided to follow him out. It had been a long day and most just wanted to get a bite to eat or head back to the hotel. 

Meanwhile, Dani was doing her best to continue faking a cough while she firmly kept Jamie in place with a hand on her shoulder, rather than allowing her to jump up and run after Peter Quint. Once all the reporters had filed out, Dani took a look around to make sure the group hadn’t piqued any of the locals’ interest before finally letting Jamie up.

Jamie swatted away Dani’s offer of a hand up. She slowly got up and dusted off her pants, more for effect than for actual concern about the state of her clothes.

“Forgettable? Oh, I’ll show Peter Fucking Quint how forgettable I can be.” Jamie grumbled as she pushed up her sleeves, every muscle in her body tensing for a fight.

“I didn’t know we’d hired anyone new,” a rich English accent softer than Jamie’s came from behind. Jamie momentarily paused her ranting to take in the new member of the conversation. She was a stunning Black woman with a shaved head that augmented her elegance and was adorned with gold hoop earrings. She had on a burgundy turtleneck sweater that went perfectly with a burgundy, gold, and black plaid skirt. The Englishwoman also had on knee high boots.

Dani was glad for the distraction because she was at a loss as to how to talk Jamie down from wanting to commit murder, she was fairly certain Jamie and Peter Quint had a history. Now Dani wished she spent more time reading gossip magazines, she’d seen all of Jamie’s movies, but only knew bits and pieces about her life or past.

“Hannah, I would like you to meet Jamie Gardner. Jamie, this is the library director Hannah Grose. Hannah, Jamie was just—“

“I was just asking about the town’s history. Dani was kind enough to show me a few online articles,” Jamie finished quickly. 

“No trouble, Ms. Gardner. I know who you are, and your secret is safe with us. Librarians are very good at keeping private information private, I think you will find.”

“Well, so far my trip has been less incognito and more cheers,” Jamie said laughing. “But your employee has been bloody brilliant in saving me such a headache with that lot of reporters skulking about your adopted town here.” As she spoke, Jamie lightly grabbed Dani’s arm mimicking Dani’s movements from just a few moments ago.

Dani found all her thoughts grind to a halt as every cell in her body was vibrating out from Jamie’s touch on her arm. She was finding it difficult to follow the conversation further until Jamie removed her hand and she heard Hannah respond, “Oh, I’m sure. We’re rather fond of Dani ourselves around here, she does quite a bit of rescuing, not just damsel movie actors either, but heiresses and staplers and all manner of things.”

“Heiresses, really? Impressive.”

Hannah made a noncommittal sound and smiled.

Jamie began, “Although I would love to hear how a fellow expat ended up in small town America, I should go have a chat with my publicist and see if we can’t figure this mild annoyance out.” She gestured vaguely towards the entrance. “I suppose I should also probably let you both get back to work. Perhaps I could interest you in dinner or tea later on?”

“How can I turn down a date with a movie star? You’ll join us won’t you, Hannah?” Dani wasn’t sure if it was panic that caused her to ask Hannah along, but she probably would have been there anyway. She also wasn’t sure why she said date. Like a Hollywood star would want to date a small town librarian.

“Well,” Hannah replied, “I suppose I could make an appearance at the cafe.”


End file.
